By Any Other Name
by Idan
Summary: Jane finds that becoming a grandfather unexpectedly brings up past memories. A short visit to the "In the Cards" universe, but this far into the future it doesn't really matter if you've read the others.


Note: I thought the story idea fairy had lost my address, but no! Hopefully there are still readers out there. If so, thank you!

* * *

Patrick Jane woke suddenly, disoriented and unsure what had woken him. Then the phone rang again.

He laid back down with a groan, rolling over to poke his sleeping wife before remembering that it couldn't be a call from the FBI, since she'd retired five years ago. Plus, the ringtone was his.

Teresa muttered and swatted at him. She was never easy to wake at the best of times, but they'd been up late video chatting with Liam in Australia. He was sorry he'd disturbed her and relieved she hadn't really woken.

Rolling back over, he picked up his phone, heart rate increasing as he saw the caller ID. "Is Victoria all right?" he demanded.

"It's time," came the breathless answer from his son-in-law. "We're on the way to the hospital. I've ordered you a car." There was a pause, during which Patrick recognized his daughter's voice in the background. "Uh, Vic says don't drive yourself. If you do, she won't let you hold the baby."

Part of his mind registered that as an empty threat, but he wasn't thinking too clearly with all the adrenaline pumping through his body. "We're on our way."

Drew waited for Victoria to finish talking in the background before adding, "She says she needs your biofeedback tricks. But don't come without her mom. She doesn't have time to keep you from freaking out if she screams."

"I know better than to have both Victoria and her mother mad at me," Patrick assured him. "See you soon."

He ended the call, then rolled over again and shook Teresa's shoulder, a little more vigorously than he meant to. "It's time," he announced to forestall any complaints.

Teresa sat bolt upright, blinking. "Okay."

"Drew sent us a car. It'll be here any minute."

Teresa rolled out of bed, running a hand through her hair. It had gone a lovely salt and pepper, its texture becoming harder to manage, so she had finally cut it short. He thought she looked fantastic, but then he always thought that. "I'll get dressed. Don't forget your glasses."

"I know, I know," he grumbled, sliding out of bed and getting to his feet. He had to pause a moment for his body to adjust and get into balance, one of his least favorite aspects of getting older.

"Is she okay? Nervous?" Teresa asked.

"I didn't talk to her, just Drew. He was translating. But I was ordered not to drive and not to forget to bring you. Like that was possible."

"I could still murder you and not leave any useable evidence," she reminded him with a grin.

"I never doubted it, my dear. What you've lost in youthful energy, you've gained in experience and cunning."

She threw a shirt at him. "Hurry up. I don't want to miss anything."

"It's her first child. He isn't likely to be born before sunrise," Patrick pointed out.

"She," Teresa said firmly, "is probably just as impatient as her mother."

"Who took the better part of a day to be born."

"Just hurry up. If you aren't ready when the car gets here, I'm leaving you behind."

"That would be fair payback," he admitted, shrugging out of his pajama top and putting on the shirt she'd hurled at him. "Except Victoria wants my biofeedback coaching."

"She'd be better off with an epidural," Teresa said, but she'd lost this argument long ago. Victoria was determined to attempt a natural childbirth. "Oh, stop looking at me like that. I'll keep my advice to myself, I promise."

"Good advice for both of us," he agreed.

They were both dressed, downstairs, and waiting at the curb by the time the car arrived. Patrick took note of the empty front seat with a groan; he hated driverless cars.

"Just get in," Teresa said firmly, opening the back door.

He slid in after her. After all, hadn't he promised to follow her anywhere? He'd followed her to DC ten years ago after the twins finished high school, which is how they'd ended up living in the capital city being forced to use driverless cars. Fortunately, Victoria had ended up in the area as well after a brief, parental-hair-raising stint as a mounted patrol officer in New York City. Her second career as a veterinarian in the horse country of Virginia, an easy drive west of the city, was much easier for her father to take. And he was grateful she'd married someone he could actually like, though it had taken him some time to accept that Drew Breton was almost as brilliant as Victoria thought he was. His job in the Bureau of Labor Statistics had sounded like he was a bureaucrat, but he turned out to be a pretty savvy mathematician.

At 3 a.m., there was only a glimmer of the rush hour to come, and it was headed the other way. The roads weren't empty though; there were plenty of federal workers who didn't telecommute and started their day at 7 a.m. or earlier to avoid traffic. It was a long drive, almost to Middleburg, but it went quickly with the higher speed limits, the only thing about driverless traffic that Patrick could appreciate.

When they arrived at the hospital, Patrick felt an unusual weariness at the modern world. Instead of a human greeting them, they were met with a mobile kiosk, into which they fed their biometric IDs to be verified against a list provided by the patient. They were then issued bracelets that would open only the doors they needed to reach the correct room. Or, he hoped, the break room. He was going to need tea.

Teresa nearly sprinted down the hall, and he followed as fast as he could. They almost passed the right door, which slid open as Teresa got close.

Patrick took a deep breath and smiled as he took in the scene. Victoria was in the bed in a hospital gown, sweating lightly but looking otherwise composed, while Drew stood over her looking nervous.

"Mom! Dad!" Victoria said. "Finally. Did you walk?"

"We stopped for tea," Teresa joked, bending to kiss her daughter's cheek. "How are you doing, sweetie?"

"I'm good. Looks like a long night," Victoria said. "But I'll be so glad not to be pregnant anymore. I'm tired of waddling."

"I hate to tell you, but that doesn't go away immediately," Teresa smiled. Then she stepped back to make room for Patrick.

"Hi, princess," he said, taking her hand in his. "Deep breaths."

"That's what I've been doing," she said, making a face.

Teresa hugged Drew. "Have you called your parents?"

"Yes; they're standing by for updates and buying plane tickets," he told her. "Thanks for coming."

"Nowhere else we'd rather be," she replied.

"Speak for yourself. I'd rather be in bed," Patrick teased.

"Liar," she retorted.

"Ow!" Patrick yelped as Victoria gave his hand a painful squeeze. It took him a moment to realize it was because she was having a contraction. "Let the pain wash through you, Victoria. Let it run down your arm, into your hand and into me. It can't hurt me."

"Not working, Dad," she said through gritted teeth.

"We'll try again once this one is past," he told her. "You can ease into it when you're calmer."

"Did you settle on baby names yet?" Teresa asked.

"We narrowed it down to four, two for a boy and two for a girl," Drew told her. "But we're waiting to see which one fits better."

Victoria said, "And we might change our mind if neither seems to fit." She let out a long breath and relaxed as the contraction ended.

Patrick glanced at Teresa, who had been perplexed but resigned to Victoria and Drew's decision to be surprised by the gender of their baby and defer the naming decision until they met him or her. That was not the way she had handled her own pregnancy. But Victoria had always had a mind of her own, and that wasn't just because she was a Jane, he thought with amusement. Though she had his curls and smile, her stubbornness had a definite Lisbon quality to it.

It was going to be a long labor.

mmm

A little after 2 p.m., Victoria gave birth to a little girl with a head full of damp curls and a set of lungs worthy of an opera singer. Drew and Patrick each held one of her hands for the final push, while Teresa hovered anxiously over the doctor's shoulder. Patrick could tell his wife was barely keeping her hands to herself, knowing it was the parents' right to hold the newborn first.

Drew took the baby from the doctor, looking down at her with an expression Patrick recognized, a mix of amazement, terror, and overwhelming love. After a moment, he gently laid her in Victoria's waiting arms, and they gazed down at the baby in awe.

Teresa came over to Patrick's side, and he slipped his arm around her shoulders, remembering their own first moments as parents. This was much more as he'd hoped, without any security measures against murderous disciples or need for the NICU. She put her arm around his waist and leaned up to kiss his cheek, and he knew she was remembering too.

The moment he'd first held Victoria, he'd seen so much of Charlotte in her face, and he'd promised himself that her life would go differently, that she would have a full life unmarred by her father's mistakes. And here, thirty years later, he realized that he'd kept that promise. Both their children were happy, healthy, and making their way in the world, and he and Teresa were enjoying their retirement. And now they had this new chapter of their lives as grandparents to savor.

Victoria finished her quiet conversation with Drew and beamed up at them. "Who wants to hold her first?"

Patrick looked down to see Teresa smiling wryly at him. "You go ahead. You're the one who worked while I took a nap."

He'd never been so grateful for her selfless spirit. "I owe you one."

"You owe me several," she grinned. "What's one more?"

Patrick grinned back, then turned back to Victoria and took his granddaughter into his arms. The newborn gave a huge yawn and then blinked, seeming unsure of what was going on but willing to tolerate it for the moment. "She looks just like you did," Patrick told his daughter. "Beautiful."

"What's her name?" Teresa asked, leaning over the baby as well. "Does she look like one of the names you picked out?"

There was a pause, during which Patrick tore his eyes away from the bundle in his arms for a split second to see Victoria and Drew glance at each other and nod.

"Yes," Victoria said. "Mom, Dad, meet Charlotte Jane Breton."

Patrick stopped breathing. A moment later, he felt Teresa ease the baby out of his arms and into hers, so he knew he must look as shaky as he felt.

"Dad?" Victoria said uncertainly. "Are you okay?"

Teresa leaned into him, letting him know she was there. He appreciated it. "Yes," he said at last, wincing as it came out as a croak.

Teresa said, "It's sweet that you want to name her after your sister."

Victoria looked crestfallen. "You don't like it."

Patrick drew a deep breath. "It's not that. Just...why? Why not start fresh?"

"She's part of our family," Victoria said. "I want her to be part of my new one too."

Patrick's vision blurred. As if from a long distance, he heard Teresa say, "Here you go, sweetie. Back to Mommy. Yes, that's better, isn't it? Okay."

The love in her voice as she gave the baby back to Victoria and the beautiful picture the three of them made washed over him, freezing him for a moment as he tried to capture every detail for the part of his memory palace he was beginning to construct for his granddaughter. It was only when Teresa touched his face, wiping away the tears, that he realized he was crying.

"Are you okay?" she whispered.

Patrick nodded, clearing his throat. "Just amazed at my daughter's big heart. Thank you."

Teresa smiled. "She didn't get it all from me."

Victoria gave them a saucy look she'd perfected around the time she started walking. "I had something to do with it too, you know."

Patrick bent down to kiss her forehead. "Thank you, princess. This is...she would have loved it. She would have loved you."

"I know," Victoria said, holding his gaze. "She's my sister."

Teresa swiped at her eyes surreptitiously, then turned to Drew. "It doesn't seem fair that the baby's names are all from our family."

"Not all. Her last name's mine," he pointed out, then grinned. "Besides, I get the next one."

Patrick smiled at the thought of another grandchild, joining baby Charlotte in this new generation of his family, his legacy. Long after he was gone, they would carry the things he and Teresa had taught them and their parents. And the memory of the first Charlotte would outlive him for sure now.

He put his arms around Teresa and buried his face in her hair, overwhelmed. For so long after he'd lost his first family, he'd been convinced he'd never have moments like this. He'd felt there could never be anything good in his life, much less joy. And now he was a grandfather, looking back on a life full of happy moments and forward to baby smiles and a little girl who would think he hung the moon.

He would ask himself how he'd gotten here, but of course the answer was simple: the woman in his arms, who'd been beside him through the worst years of his life and helped create the best ones. "I love you," he whispered.

"I know," she whispered back, squeezing his waist. "But right now I'd rather be holding my granddaughter."

He had to chuckle, giving her a quick kiss before releasing her.

Victoria said, "If it's too weird for you, Dad, we can call her by her middle name."

Teresa bent over the baby with a smile. "I think that would be too weird for me."

Patrick chuckled. "If she was naughty and you yelled 'Jane!' I'd cringe every time."

"Hah. It never had that effect before," she said, giving him an arch look over her shoulder.

"It did," he protested. "I was cringing on the inside."

"Right." Teresa took the baby back and grinned a goofy grin at her. "You'll learn soon enough when your grandpa is full of it, won't you, smart girl?"

Victoria smiled. "But she'll love him anyway." Then she gave a huge yawn.

Teresa said, "We'd better let you rest. Anything you need? We'll be back first thing in the morning, but call us if you need anything sooner."

"We'll be fine, Mom. But thanks," Victoria replied.

Teresa gave the baby to Drew and kissed Victoria on the cheek. "You did great."

"I don't know how you did two at once," Victoria said.

"I didn't have a choice," Teresa chuckled.

"Hey, don't call Liam. I'll do it myself. After a nap."

"All right," Teresa said, though Patrick could see she was itching to share the news. But that was okay; Cho and the Rigsbys were hers to tell.

Patrick said goodbye to his newly expanded family and reluctantly followed his wife out of the room. As they reached the outside, Teresa pulled out her phone to order a car, and Patrick said, "Let's stop somewhere to eat. Somewhere special. To celebrate."

"Nowhere fancy," she replied. "Someplace quick. I'm hungry."

"And I need tea. Any diners around?"

She smiled. "I'm sure there's at least one on the way. Some things never change, hm?"

Patrick gave her a quick kiss. "Today I'm good with change. Let's call it a tradition, hm? We're going to need some of those, to pass to all our descendants."

"All, huh?" She smirked. "Okay. Tradition it is. Tea and eggs for you, coffee and a cheeseburger for me."

"And then home. I have shopping to do."

Teresa laughed. "There goes our vacation fund."

"There's no sight in the world that'll compare with watching our granddaughter grow," he said confidently.

"True," she agreed. "Ah. Here's the car."

Patrick sighed at the empty front seat. "Really? No cabs even out here?"

"Just get in," Teresa laughed. "Grandpa."

He grinned as he followed her into the back seat. He didn't really care about the car, anyway. All was right with his world.


End file.
